Carkeek Park

This is a Purple Star (Pisaster ochraceus). I saw this organism in the lower intertidal zone about 15-20 yards away from the edge of the water attached to a medium sized rock. It was either just chilling and waiting to get back in the water, or just taking a break from doing what sea stars do best, which is lounging around. I think this falls into a consumer and decomposer role; consumer, since it has to eat to stay alive, and decomposer, because once it's dead and decayed, other organisms might burrow inside and eat it from within. The most interesting thing I saw on the beach was all of these different organisms in their natural habitat, especially seeing them up close. I didn't learn anything, but I was reaffirmed that there are a ton of smaller organisms around on the beaches. You just have to look harder to find them, but they are there. How do organisms like sea stars protect themselves from seabirds, or do the seabirds know not to eat the sea stars?